Going, Going... Still here?

It doesn't seem like a lot of time has passed since I walked past a bookmakers and thought "Rooney 2/1 to still be at United come next season? What great odds". This exclamation isn't a fabrication and nor was it with hindsight it was done the day the Rooney said he would be leaving United. Such was my conviction he would stay I claimed to any who would listen that I'd have bet money if I was a betting man.

Of course the reason it doesn't seem like too long ago since all this happened is because it really isn't that long ago at all. Back on the 20th October United were struggling to beat Turkish champions Bursapor in the shadow of Wayne Rooney's claims that he wouldn't be signing a new contract at the club and the main reason was because the club was going no where fast.

Fast forward to November 25th and Rooney was finally apologising to the fans, not just a month and five days since his statement but also a month after he'd signed his new contract.

Of course when the dust settled and all had been said it turned out that the boy Wayne hadn't been speaking from his head or even his heart. No it was the work of an evil genius, his agent. Rooney, so we now are told, had wanted in his heart of hearts to stay at United forever, fathered by the great Sir Alex. His agent on the other hand had wanted some more money, and so Wayne signed a new contract worth somewhere between £160,000 pound a week and £200,000 a week.

I know, I'm either way out of date or, as usual, I'm blabbering on before I get to my real point. It's of course the latter, so here goes. Fast forward again to the 12th of December but stay firmly in Manchester and yet another hero of the strikers fraternity was handing in a transfer request and causing an almighty kerfuffle at Manchester City.

This time it was Carlos Tevez kicking up a fuss. Not only was he not signing a new contract but Tevez handed in his transfer request and it seemed he not only wanted to go but go in January and if not sold then he'd retire. And why exactly? Well, and here's where you have to swim through mountains of utter tosh, firstly we were told he was missing his kids and wanted a trip back to Argentina and would either take a transfer away from Manchester or retirement from football. Then it seemed Carlos wasn't happy with not being in the Champions League having been promised that the club would be there this season. At this point the club hit back, presumably annoyed that Tevez now looked to be wanting a move away from Eastlands for footballing reasons and not family ones, they said that there must be dark forces at work, yes of course, it must be Tevez's agent, the now infamous Kia Joorabchian. Tevez came back saying Kia had persuaded him to stay in the summer when he wanted, which must be why Tevez changed his mind about only once he'd had a meeting with the club's owners minus Mr Joorabchian.

So what have we learnt so far then? Wayne wanted to leave and then didn't, earning himself a standing ovation when he finally came back from injury. Then Carlos wanted to leave and then didn't, earning himself the biggest cheer of the night against Everton- although that had something to do with City's lacklustre performance.

But the whole situation had led us to learn something more about Tevez than Rooney, for it seems to me that Tevez was making trouble for himself, and not for the first time.

Please don't see this as me attacking Tevez the player, even as a City player. The Argentinian is without doubt one of the most talented players in the Premier League at the moment. His work rate is second to none and earned him plaudits at West Ham, where it took him several months to score, at Manchester United, where fans wanted Fergie to sign him up and instantly at City, where fans apparently wanted Fergie to sign him up. His goal scoring record since being at City is brilliant and they are very much a lesser team without him but then perhaps all these facts are why his actions are so baffling.

Tevez started in England with West Ham in 2006 and did not learn much English whilst with the 'Hammers', which was understandable as no one expected him to stay there long and who knew where he'd move on to. Once at Old Trafford though surely Tevez and his agent would hope he'd be there a long time and set about learning English so he could understand his colleagues better and just get on with normal life better. On leaving Old Trafford to move across the city Tevez took a final swipe at Fergie saying that the boss hadn't spoken to him in months, a fair complaint you might think but surely not when Carlos can barely speak or understand English at the best of times never mind when someone with a thick Govan accent is talking. Then onto City where he has continued to not speak or understand English all too well, which is amazing considering one of the other reasons for his wanting to leave just over a week ago was that his relationship with certain executives, Brian Marwood and Garry Cook, had broken down to an unfixable degree. What kind of relationship any player needs to have with a club's executives is highly questionably of course.

So Tevez has never learnt English in his four and a bit years in the country, seems to pick a fight with everyone and anyone- something he did even before hitting these shores by wearing a United top during a Corinthians training session- and has a history of being with clubs no longer than 3 years. It seems to me that the great Carlos adventure may have been slowed down by his retraction of his transfer request but the English leg may be coming to an end. For City's sake I hope I'm wrong, in fact for the Premier League's sake I hope I'm wrong.

Cut down but still Big Sam

I know it's been a while, I know you barely care because you're most likely not even reading this, never the less I shall continue on.

So it's been a while. Football's still the same and nothing big is going on so I've not really been needed.

After all FIFA and Blatter messed up, that's still the same. United beat Arsenal at home and Wenger blamed something other than his team's average performance, no change there then. Benitez is happily going about his business ruining yet another side, I'm seeing a recurring theme here. Oh yes and of course, successful managers are getting sacked whilst those failing are still in jobs, hold on, that's not supposed to be the way.

I was halfway to changing my outlook on this blog, turning it from an all out column about one subject to a blog that featured several short musings from the week in football. Then suddenly Chris Hughton, Newcastle's Championship winning manager, was sacked. "Ahh mayhem at Newcastle" I thought, "could there be a better thing to write about?", indeed it did get better. First they replaced Hughton with Alan Pardew, handing him a 5 and a half year deal and then Pardew went and claimed Newcastle were one of the 5 biggest teams in the country. I can't exactly recall at which point my snigger turned into full out laughter but I think it was between Pardew being named as manager and hearing him call Newcastle one of the 5 biggest teams in the country- I wonder where he thinks they rank in terms of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Everton?

So there I was, laughing at Pardew whilst feeling sorry for Hughton and considering the new layout to my blog, when suddenly, from nowhere, I was stunned into silence by football and it's latest piece of news. How daft is that? I've been a football fan for about 18 years, surely nothing should surprise me that much any more. But Sam Allardyce being sacked?!? What the hell?!?!

Now I'm sure if you're reading this there's a good chance you may not like 'Big Sam', after all he seems to be the 'Marmite Man' of football, you either love him or hate him. His brand of football isn't always the most aesthetically pleasing in the world and he has a self confidence perhaps more suited to a manager who has won everything the game has to offer, like a Mourinho or Ferguson, so you can see why people may not like him. But, and I know we're going over old ground here, good football doesn't always win you prizes and being confident in your own ability often does.

Surely, love or hate him, you can't argue that 'Big Sam' is a man who knows how to be successful in the Premier League. I'm of course not talking about the kind of success that wins you the league, I'm talking of the relative success that teams such as Bolton, Blackburn and dare I say it, Newcastle would wish to achieve. At Bolton Sam finished in the top 8, not once but four times in a row, an amazing achievement for a team on such limited resources. He then moved on, wanting to win silverware. He believed he could do at Newcastle and started building a decent squad around him and found himself in mid table. This time he was sacked, with the increasingly intelligent Mike Ashley believing mid-table and 'unattractive' football was not enough for him. Brilliantly his team ended up mid-table that season followed by relegation the season after.

But, as usual, I digress, it is now his time at Blackburn, and now his sacking, which is most pertinent and bewildering at the same time. Only last season's top eight have gained more points than Blackburn during his reign at Ewood Park, if that doesn't put into some perspective how good he was during his time there I don't know what will. Perhaps that he finished 10th last season or kept Rovers up in his first season when all looked lost under Paul Ince will. The very fact that the man from Dudley has been linked not once but twice to the England job tells you how highly thought of in footballing circles, in fact only last week Fabio Capello named Sam along side Harry Redknapp as the two men who could replace him when he leaves the post of England manager in 2012.

So 'Big Sam' is a highly rated manager with lots of experience who brings relative success to sides without spending excessive amounts of money and is now out of a job because Blackburn's new owners demand attractive football. Apparently they want Diego Maradonna to take over as manager- a man who is known to act insane, has no real experience at club football and who's Argentinian side played lovely football at the World Cup but found themselves knocked out in the quarter finals despite having the world's greatest player in their ranks amongst other brilliance players. Sounds like a good swap to me.

Of course this shouldn't all be about Allardyce it should also be about Hughton and the stupidity of the owners of not just Blackburn but of Newcastle as well.

Newcastle's reason for getting rid of their manager was his lack of experience, which might be all well and good if he hadn't just won the Championship at a a canter last season and had taken Newcastle into the top 10 this season. Amongst this seasons victories he had seen his side beat Arsenal and Chelsea and best of all destroy local rivals Sunderland. Hughton seemed to have built a rapport with his team of 'misfits' including the ever lovely Joey Barton and the headline grabbing Andy Carroll. I wouldn't like to comment on Pardew's ability to manage the team but surely there was no need to risk the harmony at the club and current good form just to turn to a manager, who though, experienced, has hardly brought success, even in relative terms, to his previous clubs.

Here's hoping these two managers are back in jobs soon, although in 'Big Sam's' case he's certainly too good for the West Ham job is rumours are to be believed. And, as some one who has nothing against either Newcastle or Blackburn, here's hoping their owner's risky strategies pay off.